would doubtless have confined himself to grumbling and to calling for
slow-arriving thunderbolts to crash the oppressors who were despoiling
him had he felt certain that the plunder would be confined to them, that
his property would be safe, at least, from the attacks of those
insignificant, despicable but eminently dangerous plunderers who became
known to the police as common criminals. This, however, was not so.
After being flayed by iniquitous taxes, which he knew were destined to
add to the stores of Tweed, Connolly & Company, he had every day
abundant proof that what the big rascals left him, the little ones would
soon try, by burglary or robbery, to ravish from him, and that they
would do it with perfect immunity, unterrified either by the fear of
present arrest or of later punishment. The Mulberry street office was
divided into three or four little pools, each with its clientele of
dependents, all of whom faithfully and immediately reported to their
patrons the result of any little job they had been engaged in, handing
over to the representative of the pool the 20 per cent. of the result,
which was Headquarters' established commission. This was the ordinary
rate when gentlemen skilled in transferring other people's watches and
portemonnaies from the pockets of their owners to their own, or when
others who had devoted their talents to demonstrating practically the
enormous power of the jimmy and wedge originated and carried out by
themselves the operations peculiar to those classes of industries.

It sometimes happened that special cases offered, for which special
terms were arranged. Such cases stood by themselves. They were confided
only to the acknowledged heads of the profession. Standing outside of
all recognized rules, they were treated apart. Headquarters men were
always sent to the seat of operations to prevent interference, and, in
case of need, to protect their partners. Many a mysterious robbery was
perpetrated to which no clue was ever found; many an anxious search was
undertaken by the bloodhounds of the law to find the robbers, that they
might crack a bottle together and rejoice over the success of their
operations, and sometimes they were joined by men the mention of whose
names in such company would have excited incredulous and unbounded
amazement.

The gigantic heavings of the war were struggling to rest, but the men
whose minds were unhinged and thrown off their balance by the possession
of la